


strawberry parfait & wonderful days

by orphanaccount (orphan_account)



Category: Gattaca (1997)
Genre: Bonding, Discussion, Fluff, M/M, Slight Angst (not really tho)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:08:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24549649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphanaccount
Summary: Vincent and Jerome talk a bit, and discover a little bit more about each other.
Relationships: Vincent Freeman/Jerome Eugene Morrow
Comments: 1
Kudos: 40





	strawberry parfait & wonderful days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BokChoytheAlpaca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BokChoytheAlpaca/gifts).



Jerome felt him coming long before his doppelganger's steps echoed down the spiral staircase. Even though it was a part of his house, he hated that staircase. It seemed to mock him, taunt him with the simple fact that he could not move up the twisted steps. Of course, Jerome was the one that brought this upon himself, but the stairs served as an even starker reminder of his failure to gain first place. 

Even so, perhaps the stairs weren't all bad. Not if they delivered to him the soft steps of an even softer man.

"Need more samples?" Jerome cut to the chase. There was no other reason for Vincent to be talking to him, he told himself.

"No, I actually came to talk with you."

"With me? What about?" Jerome studied the boy in front of him. He was optimistic and resilient, everything he himself had failed to be.

"Well, anything really. It's my day off." Vincent looked immensely pleased, and Jerome covered his face to hide a faint upturning of his lips.

"There's an entire city to explore. Spend your day doing something fun." Jerome started to wheel away, only to be stopped by Vincent's voice. 

"I've been renting this place from you for a while, and I hardly know anything about you!"

"You know all there is to know. I had perfect genes. I could do any job I wanted. I became a swimmer. I got paralysed. My career ended. That's all there is to me, and I've been stuck here since."

_ And then I met you, _ Jerome wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut.

“I still know nothing about you!” The protest unfurled from deep within Vincent’s heart. “What about your favourite colour, or your hobbies, or your childhood?”

Jerome sighed. Resilience was an admirable quality (one he now wished he had) but Vincent never knew when to stop.

Deep inside of Jerome, however, something else stirred. Something which had been waiting for an invitation for his walls to be broken down after so many years. Something which tugged and pulled at his heartstrings so that Jerome’s next words were “Sure, Twenty Questions it is. You’ll go first.”

It surprised even himself, how easily the words flowed out of his mouth, like they had been there all along; but never wanted by anyone except for Vincent. 

Vincent leaned forwards, a mischievous grin on his face, and Jerome’s chest throbbed painfully once again. 

“Let’s see. There are so many things I could ask…” He turned his head in an overly exaggerated thinking pose, and Jerome realised that trying to hide his smiles were futile. 

“Just get on with it. There aren’t that many questions.” He didn’t expect the sharp edge in his voice, but Vincent was unbothered. 

_ He was lucky that he had found someone who could put up with him for at least a while. He didn’t deserve him.  _

“Oh, how about this? What’s your favourite food?”

“That’s quite a childish question.”

Vincent looked away, dejected, and Jerome felt his whole being protest and scream at him, telling him not to commit another irreversible error.

“Strawberry parfait.” He coughs the words out until they’re only barely intelligible. 

Vincent’s smile returned, and Jerome’s heart stopped jumping.

“I would have never expected someone like you to have such a sweet tooth.”

Jerome snorted. “We all have our little secrets. I expect you take your coffee black?”

Vincent’s smile grew brighter. Jerome wondered how many cities he could power with a single beaming grin. “No, that’s too bitter for me. I have it with sugar and cream.”

“How very stereotypical for someone like you.”

A fake pout grew on Vincent’s face, but was soon replaced by giggles. Jerome couldn’t tell if his own chuckles were in the mix of beautiful laughter.

_ How long had it been? Too long, evidently. _

“Okay, next question.” Vincent went back to his thinking face, and spent a few moments in silence which was filled only by deep concentration.

“I thought you had a universe of questions for me.” Vincent looked up.

“Well I do! I’m taking so long because it’s hard to pick one.” 

A comfortable silence squeezed itself in. Jerome found himself once again observing the man in front of him.

He was beautiful. To say something like that out loud would be seen as narcissism, but Vincent’s features, though fake, were much more polished than Jerome. Happiness shone through every detail of his face, something Jerome could never have. 

They were the same, yet so different. Physically (and now genetically) identical, yet Jerome could not be further than Vincent personality-wise. 

They both wanted what the other had. 

_ Ironic.  _ He whispered the word inside his throat, as the freedom of his mind and the confines of his body strangled him. 

“Ooh, what did you want to become as a child?” Vincent suddenly perked up. “I know you could have become anything, but did you have a choice?”

_ Childhood. How long ago was that? Could he even remember…? _

For as long as he could recall, he had been told to be the perfect specimen, no matter what he did. Vincent was right. He could have done anything. 

“I don’t know.” What a disappointingly simple response. 

“Oh, come on, you must have something. Didn’t you have anyone to look up to as a child?” 

_ No, no one. No one was as ‘perfect’ as him, Jerome Eugene Morrow. _ He shook his head. 

“I always kinda looked up to my brother. You know, even though my parents preferred him. But I loved him, and even if he was supposed to be better than me, I think we got along fine.”

“What did he become?” Curiosity incites this question.

“I don’t know. It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to my family. But I bet it’s something good!”

“I see.” Jerome hadn’t seen his family in years either, and he had no desire to now. They had thrown him away after his failure and subsequent accident. 

“You still haven’t answered my question!” This alert brought him back to reality. He had been lost in his thoughts a lot recently. 

“Seriously, I don’t know!” Jerome raised his voice a little, and again was filled with regret. “I…I don’t know. When I was young, I was taught about all sorts of sports. Running, ball sports, dancing-“

“Dancing?” Vincent immediately perked up. “When I was young, I used to love watching dancers on TV. You know, they seem so cool…They move their bodies so gracefully…”

Jerome nodded. “In a way, dancing is just like swimming. You need to move your body in a certain way, with all your limbs in coordination with each other. Dancing just looks more beautiful, whereas swimming is just thrashing around in the water.” 

“So, you’d be good at dancing?” 

“Have you looked at me recently?” Jerome gestured downwards, at his very lame legs. 

_ Has he forgotten this? The most important thing about me? _

“It doesn’t matter if your legs work or not.”

“What do you me-“ Jerome was roughly pulled up by Vincent’s strong hands.

“I’ll hold you. Let’s dance together!” Jerome was helpless in his doppelganger’s arms, not only due to his crippled legs. 

Jerome felt his head rest in the crook of Vincent’s neck, and the warmth spread into him. He had never been one to pay attention to rhythm, but the beat of their hearts connected them.

He looked up at Vincent, who had a huge smile on his face. 

“Doesn’t this feel right?”

Jerome nodded gently. “Yeah.” He closed his eyes, and slipped his hand into Vincent’s. 

They swayed gently together to an unheard music playing inside both their heads, and everything was alright just for a little bit. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
